AVM adds 'Spirit' to Tamil filmdom

R Jai Krishna

CHENNAI: Information and Communication Technology initiatives such as digital film processing are making significant enhancements to the cinema experience too.

What more, with the 60-year-old film productions house — AVM, announcing a < a href="https://www.ciol.com/content/news/patal/2006/106041302.asp">joint venture with Spirit Media (subsidiary of Suresh Productions and Rama Naidu studios) to set-up an advanced film processing, Digital Intermediate (DI) and Visual Effects facility in Chennai.

The new JV will get started with 50 visual effects professionals and technicians, and will double its numbers by the end-2006. The team will operate out of the AVM campus, which has the necessary infrastructure and will also install top-of-the-line equipment for Visual Effects, DI and Film processing.

Talking about the new venture, M S Guhan, managing partner of AVM Productions said: “We are delighted to form a JV with the Spirit-Nipuna team, which will bring immense value to the film making industry. Our joint experience with 50,000 man-years in filmmaking will surely boost the technical composition to Digital standards. This partnership will definitely set new standards in film making.”

Managing director of Suresh Productions Suresh Babu said: “The combined AVM and Spirit Nipuna corporate expertise will provide film makers and entertainment companies with a well balanced studio facility equipped with a rare mix of the latest technologies, artists, visual effects (VFX) supervisors, and technicians to provide story-driven visual enhancement.”

Digital Intermediate Processing is a relatively new technology, which collectively refers to two processes — digital alterations of the colour values in an image (colour correction) and creating a film negative.

The greatest strength of the new process is its ability to expand the creative palette of the filmmaker. The DI's powerful, creative tools allow cinematographers and directors to envision the aesthetics and colour aspects of their films with hitherto unavailable control providing great value addition.

AVM-Spirit facilities will include Scanners to capture picture and colour information for processing in the digital domain, and recorders to provide superior digital intermediate finishing.

Interestingly, the agreement was formally signed after Spirit-Nipuna completed their first Tamil project AVM's “Tirupati”, an Ajith starrer, which was released today.

Spirit-Nipuna bagged this project against stiff competition from existing post-production facilities in India.